Impacts of regional transportation improvements on urban development in Japan

Urban agglomerations in Tokyo and Osaka in post-war period are largely attributable to the policies underlying the four National Development Plans implemented in that period. These policies, which were originally intended to achieve an effect on the opposite of agglomeration, relate primarily to the high-speed transit network known as the Tokaido shinkasen and the expressway segments linking the Kanto and Kansai regions. For the purpose of capturing the historical scenario of regional agglomeration, we have formulated a long-term macro-econometric model from 1950–85, with 5-year simulation cycles. This constitutes an employment distribution block, an input-output block, and an inter-prefectural activities block, incorporating all major macro-variables. In an earlier stage of this research the model was calibrated and the total tests upon all formulations were completed. Ascertaining that the accuracy of the model is well within permissible limits, an evaluation of policy scenarios due to the delay in the introduction of the shinkansen on the Tokaido line, has been conducted. Results indicate that Tokyo grows much less rapidly than in reality, Osaka maintains the same rate of growth, and the other areas show a substantial growth by 1985. In the present version, we improve on the model with respect to its qualitative performance by relaxing the exogeneity of national employment and GNP to allow for the evaluation of these policy variables. In completing these final tests on the model, we are able to confirm the validity of the model by demonstrating its accuracy to be in a satisfactory range. In a case study, the policy areas that have contributed to the present distribution of development have been explored in detail. Comparative policy transformations, necessary to achieve the opposite effects to agglomeration, are discussed.     

Satellite and resort offices in Japan

Environmental and qualify-of-life issues are taking on an increasing social and political significance the world over. Even in Japan, a country so often criticized for its economic-dominated outlook, talk is turning to these issues. Advances in telecommunications and a growing awareness of the need to change how we live and function in an increasingly threatened environment has brought telework to the forefront of the debate on the nature of work and how our cities function.After setting the broad Japanese social context, this paper will look at the progress of telework in Japan to date with especial emphasis on several current satellite and resort office pilots. It will summarize the findings and proposals of several available reports, and will also attempt to identify the overall outlook for telework in Japan.     

基于阻力公式对跨座式单轨交通 车辆运行阻力的分析

列车运行阻力是影响列车能耗的主要因素,文章基于车辆运行阻力公式以及线路附加阻力公式,通过对跨座式单轨车辆运行阻力的分析及其与地铁车辆运行阻力的对比,得出跨座式单轨车辆的基本阻力与线路附加阻力关系、单轨跨座车辆与地铁车辆运行阻力的关系等特点,可为跨座式单轨交通项目的牵引能耗计算以及节能分析工作提供参考。     

隧道压力波数值模拟软件开发与应用

文章主要介绍了隧道压力波数值模拟软件的原理与应用.该软件以一维可压缩非定常流动模型为基础,采用特征线法计算列车通过隧道时产生的压力波及相关的空气动力参数.计算结果可以为确定隧道净空面积及探索隧道压力波减缓措施提供依据.     

Flexibility in planning and development of a container terminal: an application of an American-style call option

The prosperity and social progress of developed and developing economies is highly dependent on the existence of efficient transport infrastructure. Nevertheless, current budgetary constraints are jeopardizing the necessary investments in new or existing infrastructure. New models for planning and managing infrastructure are now necessary to overcome the lack of public economic resources available. Port infrastructure is no exception and, due to the vast number of uncertainties involving these projects, it is relevant to maximize the capture of the latent value of flexible options. Incorporating flexibility in these projects, prior to the implementation phase, can be a solution that allows port managers to address future uncertainties and mitigate risk exposure. This paper analyzes the incorporation of flexibility in port planning through the use of an American call option to the physical capacity expansion problem. The rationale is to implement a flexible expansion plan, through options that can be exercised at any given time, that are able to deal with uncertainty in demand. The paper uses a case study – Terminal Container of Ferrol, in Spain – and the results support the hypothesis that imbedded flexibility will robustly increase the net present value of the project.     

Urban public transport in Japan

This article describes some general features of public transport provision in the urban areas of Japan (especially the large urban areas), and some specific features of an integrated transport system currently being developed in one such area. Although there are a number of important differences between Japan and the United Kingdom — such as the degree of urbanisation, level of car ownership, the responsibilities of government organisations and the existence of private railways in Japan — there are many similarities in the role that public transport plays and the factors which influence the efficiency of public transport.The success or otherwise of the developments in urban public transport systems in Japan would seem to have important implications for the design of transport systems in the similarly dense and compact conurbations of the United Kingdom and other European countries.     

国内外公路运输场站绿色低碳发展政策和技术应用现状分析

通过文献调研,采用纵向比较的方法,文章分析了我国与美国、欧盟、日本等发达国家及地区公路运输场站绿色低碳的发展政策和技术应用现状,并针对我国公路运输场站发展实际,提出了今后公路运输场站绿色低碳发展的几点建议。     

Transport coordination debate and the Japanese National Railways problem in postwar Japan

As the “railroad problem” in Japan became serious, there was a widespread debate calling for the implementation of a policy of transport coordination. Much debated themes were “inherent advantage,” “equal-footing,” “comprehensive transportation system,” and “economizing in transportation.” However, this not only had the effect of hampering the modernization of economic regulations for Japan's railroad industry, but also caused the Japanese National Railways's cumulative deficit to expand and placed a heavy economic burden on the public.     

Logistics opportunities in Asia and development in Taiwan

The economy in Asia is growing rapidly. As a consequence, transportation and communication technologies and the changing needs of customers and shippers have resulted in Asian and Taiwan's logistics being in transition. This paper discusses why logistics changes, and explores the opportunities for Asian logistics development. The issues of logistics perspectives of private sectors in Taiwan are then raised. Finally, logistics development in Taiwan is described.     

The use of patent analysis in assessing ITS innovations: US,Europe and Japan

A wealth of research on ITS has been carried out for the past two decades. In view of the rapid technological development and innovations occurring in ITS, the ITS stakeholders need to be aware of the usefulness and availability of patents associated with ITS technology. Among the national and international reviews which have been made available in journals of record and freely available public sources, little use has been made of patent information in assessing ITS innovations. Therefore, the paper looks at the ITS technology developments from the international perspective through utilizing rich, reliable information provided by ITS-related invention patents in the world’s three leading patent databases (EPO, USPTO, and JPO) to provide an overall picture of ITS innovations. The research findings show that the patent analysis can provide firms involved in the ITS sector and ITS researchers with information that can assist in their strategic planning efforts.     

四川公路隧道的规划和发展

文章简要介绍了四川公路,特别是高速公路网的规划与建设,以及项目建设中隧道的规模;阐明了四川公路隧道具有"长、大、高"的显著特点,展望了四川公路隧道的发展前景.     

International private and public reinforcing dependencies for the innovation of automotive emission control systems in Japan and USA

In the beginning of the 1970s, the economies of USA and Japan were growing fast and environmental pollution was increasing to alarming levels. As passenger car emissions were found to be significant and rapidly increasing, their reduction was specially targeted. Following a bill passed by US Congress in 1968, requirements were set in 1970 for the vehicle manufacturers to reduce the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) with 90% by 1975, and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) with 90% by 1976. These requirements were soon adapted to the Japanese regulatory framework, and were known in both countries as the “Muskie Act” or “Muskie Law” after the senator who developed the original bill.The new requirements spurred tremendous research and development efforts. Car manufacturers and research institutions in USA, Japan and Europe investigated and developed alternative solutions, including gas turbine and steam engine vehicles. California, the USA state with the most severe air quality problems and the only state at the time allowed to establish more strict requirements than federal regulation, established requirements implying the use of oxidation catalysts in 1975 and three-way catalysts (TWC’s) in 1977. Japan as a nation adopted similar requirements 1976 and 1978. Export of cars from Japan to USA increased rapidly. The rest of USA adopted emission standards similar to California’s only in 1981, timing USA vehicle sales rebound after the energy crisis and grave economic downturn. Strict requirements were thus established only after more than a decade of civic and legal processes between federal authorities, the car manufacturers and NGO’s.The history of vehicle development is one of cooperation and competition. This paper argues that the international cooperation on different levels of society (government, industry and science) together with commercial competition between the two countries was strong, continuous and instrumental in enabling the development of technology, appropriate regulation and infrastructural changes and thus created a market for cleaner cars and effectively reduced emissions from the growing vehicle fleet. In other words, the introduction of TWCs was reinforced by the simultaneous development of mitigating technology in two car producing countries competing for market space.     

Strategic sampling for large choice sets in estimation and application

Many discrete choice contexts in transportation deal with large choice sets, including destination, route, and vehicle choices. Model estimation with large numbers of alternatives remains computationally expensive. In the context of the multinomial logit (MNL) model, limiting the number of alternatives in estimation by simple random sampling (SRS) yields consistent parameter estimates, but estimator efficiency suffers. In the context of more general models, such as the mixed MNL, limiting the number of alternatives via SRS yields biased parameter estimates. In this paper, a new, strategic sampling scheme is introduced, which draws alternatives in proportion to updated choice-probability estimates. Since such probabilities are not known a priori, the first iteration uses SRS among all available alternatives. The sampling scheme is implemented here for a variety of simulated MNL and mixed-MNL data sets, with results suggesting that the new sampling scheme provides substantial efficiency benefits. Thanks to reductions in estimation error, parameter estimates are more accurate, on average. Moreover, in the mixed MNL case, where SRS produces biased estimates (due to violation of the independence of irrelevant alternatives property), the new sampling scheme appears to effectively eliminate such biases. Finally, it appears that only a single iteration of the new strategy (following the initialization step using SRS) is needed to deliver the strategy’s maximum efficiency gains.     

我国矿山载人索道现状及发展前景

文章阐述了一种适于矿山地面与井下运送矿工上下班的新型载人索道的开发研制过程，介绍了这种类似于小型单线循环固定抱索器客运索道的矿山索道在矿山企业中的应用现状及前景。     

德国物流发展规律考察报告

德国物流行业2007年产值超过2000亿欧元,位列经贸和汽车工业之后排在第三位,物流成本占国内生产总值的比重在10%以下.物流产业社会化和综合服务水平高,物流企业注重物流技术研究和专业化、规模化经营,基本实现了以运输合理化、仓储标准化、装卸机械化、加工配送一体化和信息管理网络化为标志的现代综合物流管理与服务.     

掘进机技术在我国隧道及地下工程中的应用与发展

文章简要介绍了我国采用岩石掘进机和盾构机修建隧道的发展情况,阐述了我国掘进机法与盾构法的技术进步及存在的主要问题,展望了我国掘进机与盾构技术的发展前景,并提出了发展掘进机和盾构技术及产业化的几点建议.     

隧道气密性和抗侵蚀混凝土的研究与应用

针对贯穿含瓦斯煤层与侵蚀性地下水等严酷环境中的地下混凝土工程,采用一系列特种混凝土外加剂,研制了气密性混凝土与抗腐蚀气密性混凝土,并成功应用于华蓥山隧道等长大隧道的二次衬砌混凝土工程.文章还对混凝土气密性的测试试验方法进行了探讨并提出了相关建议.     

Transportation and regional agglomeration in Japan: Through a long-term simulation model 1920–85

The present article reviews the effects of wartime and post-war policies on regional agglomeration of landuse and transportation activities in Japan. For this purpose the authors have formulated a long-term model over the period 1920–85, and conducted its final test. After confirming the accuracy of the entire model, it is used to evaluate the wartime policies which caused excessive employment agglomeration in Tokyo, and post-war policies concerning the high speed Shinkansen rail network. We conclude that the choices of alternative policies would have led to a more balanced regional structure than there is now, with less agglomeration in both Tokyo and the Kanto region.     

Prospects for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States and Japan: A general equilibrium analysis

The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) may offer a potential near term, low-carbon alternative to today’s gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. A representative vehicle technology that runs on electricity in addition to conventional fuels was introduced into the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model as a perfect substitute for internal combustion engine (ICE-only) vehicles in two likely early-adopting markets, the United States and Japan. We investigate the effect of relative vehicle cost and all-electric range on the timing of PHEV market entry in the presence and absence of an advanced cellulosic biofuels technology and a strong (450 ppm) economy-wide carbon constraint. Vehicle cost could be a significant barrier to PHEV entry unless fairly aggressive goals for reducing battery costs are met. If a low-cost PHEV is available we find that its adoption has the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions, refined oil demand, and under a carbon policy the required CO₂ price in both the United States and Japan. The emissions reduction potential of PHEV adoption depends on the carbon intensity of electric power generation. Thus, the technology is much more effective in reducing CO₂ emissions if adoption occurs under an economy-wide cap and trade system that also encourages low-carbon electricity generation.